Iran protests: Western salivation, agitation & desperation

I am on vacation and trying to stay away from politics to recharge my batteries, but a sane voice on Iranian politics in English is almost impossible to find, so….

Despite the Western media’s slobbering at the minor protests in Iran, there is no need to fear that Iranian democracy is about to “fall”. Allow me to get right to the heart of the matter and prove why:

What did the 2009 protests prove?

Firstly, that opposition to the Iranian system is obviously a minority, which was immediately indicated back then by the fact that the pro-Ahmadinejad counter-protests were larger – a rarely reported fact. Today there are major pro-government counter-protests now planned all over Iran, but good luck hearing much about that either.

Secondly, and more importantly – and this cannot be disputed whatsoever:

Exactly like in Venezuela this year – there is a hardcore, GRASSROOTS system of citizen supporters who will defend the Iranian Revolution with their lives…because they feel the Iranian Revolution (like Chavismo) has benefited the average citizen so very much. That’s why Venezuelan democracy didn’t fall – it was due to the common person attending a counter-protest, maybe even wielding a garden tool. This is what preserved Venezuelan democracy – not state military action – and this is also what happened in Iran in 2009.

So Iran 2009 and Venezuela 2017 proved that Mao was wrong when he said “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun” – if you have enough of the People, all you really need is a makeshift club.

Because true politics – which is far different from pathetically snarky discussions on TV – is ultimately about People Power, and Iran’s government has the People clearly on their side. 2009 proved that if you push the Iranian People to the brink, you will be confronted with their power. (Iran is NOWHERE near the brink right now, of course.)

Iran’s Basij Resistance Bases – or volunteer militias, in Western terms – are far more deeply embedded in all levels of society than Chavismo colectivos. They are more more akin to the Chinese Communist Party (minus the formalised and incredibly rigorous testing and selection policy) as they compose perhaps 11 million people in an 80-million person country. Strikes are basically the only way to get any revolution going, but good luck getting an unjust strike past the Basij branches which are set up among unions, professional organizations, civil servants groups, student groups, industrial workplaces, etc.

And most of these members are unpaid. And they have families who likely feel similarly. And they have friends who clearly aren’t opposed to them…because they are still friends, after all.

So, you see…we are not talking about a “group” – we are basically talking about half of Iran.

Now you can ignore the ironclad reality of such grassroots (i.e. popular democratic) support all you like, but you will never defeat them internally. Never.

For that, as Libya proved, you need NATO bombs. There was huge internal support for the Libyan system: I was there when it started, and I witnessed pro-Ghadaffi protesters, and I was awed by their intensity – but they were overwhelmed by US and French bombs, 40 tons of illegal arms drops by France, a naval and air blockade spearheaded by the UK, Canada and all of Western Europe, etc.

So the analysis above should answer the question on every idiot Western commentator’s lips regarding a possible “fall” of Iran. I simply say: How do you account for the already-proven massive number of people willing to forget about political niceties/compromises and fight FOR Iran’s government?

This is not “tough talk” or “nationalistic talk” on my part – this is reality, and it must be accounted for in any discussion which claims to be serious (or worth having).

Foreign interventions and false flags – also not a worry for Iran

What must also be remembered is that Iran already had their “NATO intervention” – it was called the Iran-Iraq War. For 8 horrible years the West foisted Iraq on Iran, supplied Iraq with weapons, turned a blind eye to the worst chemical weapons atrocities since World War One, and did all they could to create, prolong and influence the deadliest war in the last quarter of the 20th century.

And it was still not enough.

A 2nd phony Western war would also totally backfire in 2018 – have no doubt about that. The Iran-Iraq War created a nationalist unity which Libya did not have; Libya’s revolution did create the highest standard of living in Africa and fewer poor people than the imperialist Netherlands (and free loans, education, health care, etc.), but it was never really tested. Syrians, on the other hand, will soon enjoy a nationalist unity also forged in the crucible of a horribly unjust war.

So there are simply not the type of divisions in Iranian society which the West was able to exploit in Libya. A 2nd phony Western war would undoubtedly be met with a largely-unified response to expel the invaders and Iran would never be fooled by their phony promises; this is evidenced by massive popular support for our right to nuclear energy, even though it is (allegedly) the main source of inhumane sanctions. The Iran-Iraq War not only “made the bones” of the Iranian system, but it is remembered and feared – a return to that will be wildly, massively opposed.

Iran is, in this sense, like Cuba and China: a revolutionary country full of many revolutionaries. There is no irony in their politics, nor any going back.

Iran is definitely one step ahead of Venezuela in another way: their government is not revolutionary, after all, but based on a democratic support for Chavismo that is fundamentally bourgeois (West European democracy). I am not denigrating Venezuela, but they have never instituted the fundamental, wholesale changes which countries like Cuba, China, Vietnam, Eritrea and others have implemented. This commitment to “playing by the rules” of a bourgeois democratic system leaves them very vulnerable and almost welcoming of the very forces which want to destroy the gains democratically won by Chavismo.

And it was not enough in Venezuela, too – Chavismo is still standing. It’s bruised, bloodied and shaky, but it’s still there despite the vast US-led effort against it. The source of the reactionary-foreign capitalist pact against Venezuelan socialism was because Chavistas are, correctly, starting to implement Cuban-style changes to their governmental structure in order to become less bourgeois and more poplar democratic.

What’s a more realistic fear? A Ukraine-style false flag operation.

I recently re-broadcast a totally-ignored Italian report on 3 snipers who admitted they were paid to shoot at both sides at Ukraine’s Maidan. That caused the killing of 100 people, massive chaos, the subsequent discrediting of the government and then what still reigns today – horrible civil war.

However, Ukraine is no revolutionary society. The Iranian government would not, and should not, permit an encampment like at Ukraine’s Maidan. Iran is a country which has been besieged by foreign forces for decades, and is no position to allow an “Occupy” type of protest at Zuccotti Park in New York City (razed at night after less than 2 months, with more repression to prevent their return; that’s a slightly better democratic score than other Occupy protests in the US which were stopped much sooner; and a far better score than France, who rousted out their Nuit Debout protesters in Paris every single night, forcing them to rebuild the following day.) because we all know that it would be filled with 10 times more foreign operatives than in Ukraine, i.e., it cannot possibly be as democratic is it would claim to be. There would be Mossad, CIA, MKO, Al-Qaeda, ISIL, Mi5, DGSE and truly the worst of the worst in the world. You cannot compare the US and Iran; Iran is fighting for its life and its sovereignty, while the US government fights to preserve its capitalist inequality.

However, all those foreign, murderous groups will have no problem creating a sort of false-flag which kills hundreds and hundreds of innocent Iranians if it means installing a compliant billionaire puppet like in Ukraine – Iran is far, far richer than Ukraine, after all. And Iran is also the only thorn in the side of Western imperialist capitalism in the Muslim world.

With great power comes great responsibility, and thus Iran’s government is not about to allow a Ukraine-style Maidan to occur. Staggeringly, Iran has seen 17,000 people killed by terrorists since 1979; during this year’s ISIL attacks there was no overreaction such as installing a 2-year state of emergency like in France. Iran both does not mess around with risks and does not needlessly antagonise their own people (which actually means to make another risk).

Two people have died in the protests, and the government declared that security forces fired no bullets, and attributed the death to foreign agents. Given what has happened in Ukraine (and hundreds of other places over the years), and given the massive democratic support the government has…it would be insane and illogical to rush to judgment against the government.

Of course, this is exactly what the Western media is doing. They will desperately blow this out of proportion. They will salivate at the protests, dissimulate regarding their own hypocrisies, agitate for war, and all because they are so desperate to push their anti-Iranian agenda. This is textbook, and the historical modus operandi, and it will not change when the Western calendar turns to 2018 in around 12 hours.

It will likely work to great effect outside of Iran, but inside? No way. Iran is too busy trying to repair our issues – which every society has because humans are not perfect – to be fooled by tabloid journalism.

Are Iranians not permitted to have normal protests?

These protests are economic. Have you not noticed that these have swept much of the world for the past decade?

You might have an insane MKO cult member willing to burn a poster of Khamenei – giving the Western media the chance to blow that out of proportion – but this is an economic protest. But these are not a fruit-seller setting himself on fire, like in Tunisia, to desperately protest corruption, harassment and everyday brutality.

Protests are not unknown in Iran society: Has your country pulled off a silent march larger than Iran in 2009? Remember the silent marches of 2009? 1979 saw more than a small bit of protesting too, let’s remember. These protests are akin to the 3-500 protests per day in supposedly-undemocratic China: more effective government policies are being called for, not a whole new government!

Because these protests are economic, I will insist that the West give the Iranian government as much leeway as they take for themselves when confronted with similar demonstrations.

Waitaminut…I sure hope Iran is not THAT bad!

Because during the age of austerity I have been tear gassed too many times to count while covering economic protests in France. Only because I am a foreign journalist, I have not been among the thousands of arrested pro-democracy protesters; there have been hundreds of banned protests (how many more chilled into silence and thus strangled in the cradle?); plenty of harsh jail sentences of leading activists; countless people hurt by batons and water cannons amid total Western media silence; countless protesters cowed by invasive searches by riot police and the guarantee of rough treatment.

But where were the Western calls for “regime change” in France, like which are pouring from the mouths of Western commentators?

When Hollande and Macron forced through by executive order the widely-opposed capitalist laws which sparked the anti-government protests, where are their accusations of “authoritarianism”?

Of course there were none.

Ugh. I just remembered I’m on vacation…I shouldn’t be wasting me time trying to point out that Iran’s government doesn’t needs to defend their actions to Westerners….

But the crimes of capitalism do not take a vacation

The truth is that Iran’s economic policies – like China, Cuba and everyone else – have been negatively tainted by the anti-socialist and neoliberal ideas which swept the world after the fall of the USSR.

While Iran has implemented an army of pro-socialist ideas which have undeniably redistributed wealth in an amazingly effective fashion, they have also pursued some pro-capitalist and pro-neoliberal ideas – this trend has spared no nation since 1991. The recent economic choices of Cuba and China are no different, but even though Marx said we must use the tools of capitalism in order to create socialism…that necessarily creates economic problems.

Now without a doubt, the main problem with Iran’s economy is simple: international blockade. It is deranged to believe otherwise.

However, the protests can be interpreted as evidence that experimentations with capitalism have not worked – indeed, they never have and never will. Neoliberalism has led to what it always does – inefficiency and ineffectiveness.

These protests are the same as in France: against decreased purchasing power and unemployment. Can’t we have a “normal” protest, LOL? It is sad, but many have been led to believe that Iranians are aliens, but our problems are actually the same as yours!

But Iran does have much better alternatives, however: Khamenei’s pushing of a “resistance economy” – meaning a nationalist economy which rejects capitalism – is in direct opposition to neoliberalism. But – NEWS FLASH – Iran is a democracy; Khamenei is not anything close to an absolute ruler (the translated title of “supreme leader” is quite misleading, LOL); there are supporters of capitalism in Iran.

And thus, the Western media wants to ignore these complaints – which reflect near-universal economic hardship amid the Great Recession (even in non-blockaded countries) – and portray all protesters as pushing for the downfall of the Iranian system.

That’s nonsense, and it won’t happen. The reason why is simple: there is widespread democratic support for Iran and the popular, democratic revolution which set up the current system. Again, I am on vacation and I won’t waste more time telling people that the sky is blue – stick your head out the window and if you still disagree: it must be nighttime, you blockhead.

A minor point: a common Western trope is that these protests are in response to the “wasted resources” caused by lending support and solidarity to places like Palestine, Syria and Iraq. However, polls of Iranians show there is massive support for giving material and military support to these countries. (“In general, to what degree do you support or oppose Iran providing help to”: Hezbollah (71% approve), government of Assad (66% approve), Hamas (70% approve) Shiites and Kurds in Iraq fighting ISIL (88% approve), Iran should send military personnel to Syria (63% approve)) Clearly, the naysayers are in the minority: therefore, changing these policies would be undemocratic. Of course, the West would be ecstatic if Iran was no longer around to thwart their imperial projects. However, Iran’s politicians work in a democracy: if they want to win re-election, they will continue with these popular policies.

A final point: Why are democratic protests for policy reform a “sign of a vibrant and healthy democracy” when they occur in the West…but “an indicator people want to bring down the system” whenever they occur in non-Western countries? Ultimately, these protests will be heeded and, like all genuine protests, will make Iranian democracy stronger and the country better.

But as far as believing the Western media’s coverage of Iran’s protests – which is both uninformed and not remotely objective (and capitalist-imperialist, of course) — I suggest following my lead: enjoy your vacation instead.

Happy Western New Year to all!

Ramin Mazaheri is the chief correspondent in Paris for Press TV and has lived in France since 2009. He has been a daily newspaper reporter in the US, and has reported from Iran, Cuba, Egypt, Tunisia, South Korea and elsewhere. His work has appeared in various journals, magazines and websites, as well as on radio and television. He can be reached on Facebook.

The Essential Saker II: Civilizational Choices and Geopolitics / The Russian challenge to the hegemony of the AngloZionist Empire

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Those Ukrainians who took those cookies from Victoria are cursing they day they did that. Ukraine has been reduced to the level of a feudal state run and robbed by oligarchs, the new robber barons. Cookies will not work again, certainly not in Iran.

@ Reynard. Yes, Aryan alias Iranian alias IndoEuropean: that group of Languages which includes modern Germanic Languages like English, Dutch and Deutsch. Freeman, a name meaning in those 3 Arian Langages a Free Man. FreeLand meaning a person from the Free Land (a common attribute of Germans, NetherLanders and Englanders who traditionally value personal and political freedom). So what’s your point?

I like this site and the author’s is publishes. But it also so telling that the first comment is one that is directly racist with references to “Jewess”. And that it goes right past any sort of moderation.

An excellent article. Very accurate and extremely logical. The moment those demonstrations occured in Iran, I knew what would happen, The Western media grabbed the occasion to misrepresent them, expecting a color revolution. Soros and CNN style tricks were used, cameras pointing their lenses into the center of the demonstrations to give the impression of massive developments. Ofcourse no color revolution happened, as I knew it would not. These demonstrations caused a reaction, ordinary people immediately grasping the fact that they would be misrepresented as having wide scale support, when in fact they did not. Counter demonstrations in support of the Government were organized, and these demonstration were, on the whole, ignored by the Western media, the Internet being the exception.

Soros and the CIA better forget about getting a color revolution. That’s wishful thinking. Its not going to happen.Everybody knows what you get after a color revolution: Poverty, injustice and financial and political gratification for the elite. Ukraine is the prime example.

You are right to say that there is no prospect of a “colour revolution” in Iran but that is not the point. The coverage is aimed squarely at western audiences and is intended to soften up public opinion for the impending scrapping of the nuclear deal by the US and also for US/Israeli attacks on Iranian forces in Syria and even an eventual attack on Iran itself.

That is correct. However, things not going too well in that direction, as the US has also picked a quarrel with North Korea and does not know which country to attack first, if not both at the same time. Very risky attacking both, as the repercussions would be huge.

Exactly my thoughts.
The worrying of a Maidan style false flag with explosions and snipers is also on my mind. I think the Israeli’s are drooling to attack Syria, maybe even bombing Damascus.

And be prepared for more: thousands of ISIS mercenaries have been moved by the US troops to Afghanistan. Which country borders Afganistan on the west?
Well, will the Taliban and other tribes there accept the new ‘invaders’?
And silently American troops have been building up in Iraq, at the south border of Iran. I do hope that they are not that stupid to try an attack on Iran. Don’t Iran has S-300 air defences? And many rockets that can reach any US base in the ME?

The point is that the elites in the US and Europe are getting desperate. The US has a huge debt, and so do individual EU countries. Both the US and EU are printing currencies backed by nothing.This cannot last too long, bearing in mind the rise of Eurasia, the fact that Russia and China are going to introduce gold backed currencies and the fact that China will introduce the petro-yuan. The US has to do something to prevent this. As usual, it will be war. We shall now see what the repercussions of this policy are going ton be.

Bob, Israel cannot, I repeat cannot attack Syria with ground forces. They couldn’t even overtake border villages on the Lebanese-Israeli border in 2006 against Hezbollah alone. Even Israel’s famous Golani Brigade ran into serious trouble and had to be extracted from attempting to overtake Beit Lahim on the border.

Interesting enough, Hezbollah had their elite commandos stationed north of the Litani Line, while the Hezbollah fighters they faced at the border were ‘regulars’.

Israel and the U.S. might control the skies, but ok on the ground they are useless.

Another point is that Syria, and her army, along with Hezbollah, IRGC have nothing to lose but everything to gain should Israel attempt a disastrous war with Syria, or Hezbollah, as of now, they are super close and an attack on one is in effectively an attack on all.

Also, the Syrian Arab Army, Hezbollah and elements of the IRGC have 7 bloody years of war of attrition against fanatical zealots who crave death more than life, and they won. You think the mostly exchange students from Florida, California and Brooklyn , New York who essentially make up most of the IDF, Israels military , would fare nicely against the now battle-hardened Syrians, Hezbollah and IRGC ? Fantasy, these said forces would roll up the acres all the way to Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem.

Israel is bluffing, and praying that their bluff is not called. Unlike 67′ and 73′ , times have changed. Its not the old IDF against Soviet style bloc armies of corrupt and split Arabs of yesteryear. The U.S., France and Britain will not come to the rescue this time. It would be overwhelming for the illegal Zionist state. Rest assured.

And Iran does have nukes of their own, or ones that’s components can be assembled rather quickly, and fitted on their heavy ballistic missiles. All the Iranians need to do is come out with a religious ruling ‘Fatwa’ saying that nukes are permissible now. It takes twelve Clerics and its done. Believe me, Iranians are shrewed. And Washington, Tel-Aviv know this.

Mark, what is the very first thing Iran will do if attacked . They will not target Israeli civilian population centers, as that would be a seen as fact that Iran is as said, dangerous, and ohh, those poor Jews are under genocide sic sic

Isreali , U.S. military targets will be be bombarded saturation style by Irans vast arsenal of ballistic missiles. But the very first thing Iran will target if attacked is the heart and soul of Israel and the U.S. economy. Every oil and natural gas installation, pipelines, facilities, refineries, ports, fields e.t.c within a 2000 km radius of Iran, and that puts the GCC countries of the whole oil and gas producing giants oil and gas will be destroyed by ballistic missiles.

That would be fatal for the U.S. Petrodollar. The Jews that are instigating trouble and are trying to subvert Iran from both Washington and Tel-Aviv will have kissed their economies goodbye.

So Israel and the U.S. decide to go nuclear, well according to Iranian jurisprudence, nuclear weapons are forbidden as un-Islamic (although Pakistan has them). This can be remedied in quick meeting of senior Iranian clergy. They will simply issue a ‘Fatwa’ (religious decree) reversing this ban on nukes and their use. Then Israel is toast.

And if anyone doesn’t think Iran has nukes ready to be assembled in quick order, should such a Fatwa be enacted, they simply are not paying enough attention. Iran has such nukes on standby for assembly and has the means to deliver them. Believe it. I am sure this message has reached Washington and Tel-Aviv, the Al-Saud family through backchannels, otherwise, Iran would have been attacked by now, if not long ago.

Don’t forget Western media have three target audiences: (1) domestic to glorify the own way and belittle any other way; (2) foreign which is actually a very very minor part; and (3) to prove to Ceasar in DC and to fellow vassals that the respective country is firmly in line with the order of the day. I think not even the most dillusional Empire bureaucrats believe they can start a twitter-revolution in Persia. Which of course doesn’t keep them from trying to stir up shit just because they can and to justify their annual budgets.

Western people generally are totally impotent to learn anything of Tiananmen Square, Maidan, Arab Spring and those other pro Empire western manipulated “color revolutions”. These western mainstream media pundits and public are living in propaganda “reality” run by Empire.

As you say, generally, and that is the key word. Our educational system no longer considers history to be important, but how else can we learn to ensure these things do not happen again.

I know virtually nothing of Tiananmen Square very little of Maidan, and even less of the Arab Spring. But there are Chinese residing here in Australia who will know, the same as Ukrainians and Arabs, and I would relate these events to old history as the ‘Highland Clearances’ and the Irish ‘Potato Famine’ as well as the Armenian Genocide, and also the American purchase of the Philippines from the Spanish back in 1893.

The Pinoy thought they were getting freedom, but it was simply a change of ‘owners’ and they objected, as Mark Twain noted and they too suffered for it. What was never mentioned was that when the Japanese invaded the Philippines they were accompanied by the Filipino Liberation fighters who were still believing in freedom.

A similar story to when the Japanese invaded India.

And for Australia, the Tiananmen Square led the Australian Prime Minister at that time, Bob Hawke to permit all Chinese students studying in Australia to apply for Australian citizenship, and so we got some intelligent people from that event.

Yes,sad but true,any country that tries to have friendly dealings with the West comes to regret it. Yugoslavia tried to have good relations with the West and was destroyed. Iraq tried opening to the West and got invaded. Libya trusted the West and was destroyed.Russia in the 1990’s opened to the West and was looted and got the Chechen War.China opened to the West and got Tiananmen Square and later the Hong Kong riots.Cuba tried to deal with the West and is still under blockade.Syria tried being friendly with the West and got the civil war.Venezuela tried to keep relations with the West and is suffering attempted regime change.Ukraine tried to keep a balance between the West and East and suffered maidan. Iran has been trying to reestablish ties to the West and suddenly has attempted regime change.The list is longer than these.But these should show the point clearly.The one thing they all have in common is the desire to have relations with the West.And the West seeing that as a green light to attack them.

The so-called ‘West’ will decide what kind of relationship regional oligarchs will have with the Zionist Centre.

Neither Iran nor Venezuela are likely to be invaded because their two respective systems represent templates for what is planned for all of the so-called developing world, with differences to account for local conditions but on the whole representing a fully conceived replacement for the old system of slavery — by one that is new.

In Iran there will be a kind of theocratic socialist-capitalism, as is being brewed in this experimental social pressure-cooker since 1979, with the objective of spreading this system and structure to all parts of Western Asia, including Syria and Turkey, with the latter presently developing it’s own unique form of Ottoman Sunnite-capitalist-theocracy under the Greco-Georgian President, and puppet of Donmeh Jewery, Tayyip Erdogan.

In Venezuela will exist a less elaborate socialist-capitalism already familiar to Cubans, i.e. mass prostitution and banana economics for the poor, with the idea of spreading this system to all parts of Latin America, in perfect imitation of the great Castro Psyop and Social Experiment of the last nearly 6 decades, and which will be a modernized form of the Jesuit Reductions of the 16th to 18th centuries in central South America.

For Zionists it will be business as usual as they slowly erect a new system of total exploitation over the next 30-60-90 years, however long it takes. Those able to pull themselves up or perhaps offered a seat at the high table, such as China and most likely Russia, will play the part of benefactors to the disposessed of the world, as they do presently to some extent, but local Chinese and Russian oligarchs will remain mostly ambivalent to the fate of the very poorest of the poor, understanding that their wealth and power is also tied to exploiting someone, somewhere — because that’s what materialism, monetarism, socialism and capitalism are fundamentally about.

This is the Masonic plan, as already discussed and written about over more than a century, and with adjustments to meet changing circumstances, the Zionist Globalist Masons mean to create a worldwide social system complete with a caste system pidgeonholing everyone, including with respect to religious/social perspectives uniquely developed to hold each strata strictly in it’s place, and of course, to generate power and profit for the Brahmin-Abrahamites who occupy the top-most positions.

I know it’s a lot to take in but instead of relying on ‘trusted’ persons do your own research and if anyone can come up with a better theory of why the world is being intentionally driven into a state of total chaos I’d certainly love to hear how they explain the totality of what will undoubtedly be massively escalated in 2018.

And that same mediocrity is present in every party dominated polity the world over. Party politics requires of it’s participants an ability and willingness to conflict ones interests. That is never wise, and in government leads us to the sort of bizarre and idiotic confusion we now witness on a daily and increasingly hourly basis.

Mr. Mazaheri mentioned the Occupy protests in America. They didn’t accomplish anything, but it is also obvious that something about them made the ruling powers on Wall Street and in the government VERY nervous.

In themselves, they weren’t doing anything. A bunch of people standing or sitting around carrying signs. They weren’t a coup marching to take over a TV station. They were just people talking with each other and carrying signs.

But something about them made the ruling elites very, very nervous. One saw the various means by which the west crushes such protests. From informers and agent-provacateurs getting inside the protests and sowing disruption, to attacks from almost all the media, to the State sending in storm troopers to break up the occupations.

The response tells you that those protests made some very powerful people very nervous. And obviously, they were scared of the protests growing, which they were.

I wasn’t in NYC. But in my town, there was a local Occupy site and protest. I was out there as soon as I realized what was going on. And the very interesting thing about them was that they had huge support from all sorts of people. Stand by the side of a busy road with a sign protesting Wall Street, and one received almost uniform cheers, thumps up gestures, honking horns. With little or no negative response. I’ve also been an anti-war protester after 9/11 and the start of the Iraq War, so I know a negative response when I see/hear one. I’ve been called a traitor. I’ve had threats of physical violence made at us, and I’ve heard death threats seen and made. I’ve had objects, especialy beer bottles thrown at the group of protesters.

Nothing like that during the Occupy protests. There was a lot of very positive responses, or silence from passing cars and people. Very little negative response. But lots of very positive responses. And, at it got to the point where we had a steady line of 10 cars or so coming by in the evenings to drop off water and other donations to the protesters.

I suspect the undercovers and informers in the crowds were reporting on this back to the ruling powers.

Something made the ruling elite in the US jump on those protesters like they were a small brush fire in Southern California. Something about those protests made the ruling power very nervous, and feel the need to very quickly contain and put out these protests.

So, before one condemns all of western citizens for being unable to protest or change things, then consider just what was going on during Occupy that made Obama and various Democrat mayors and governors move so very quickly to crush those protests? Were they afraid that if they were allowed to grow even one more week that they might then get out of control?

One of the big victories powers like those who rule in America can win is to convince people that its hopeless to protest or to try to change things. Perhaps what the Occupy protests were starting to accomplish was to shatter that particular myth? And maybe that’s why they needed to be crushed. And maybe that’s why its important to remember that when people really move in their numbers and demand real change, they can indeed get at least some change.

I was involved with supplying Occupy Phoenix AZ. The people at what was known as Occupy Supply needed a local liaison to deliver everything from coats, gloves, sweaters, sleeping bags, tents, etc. It was in a park in downtown Phoenix bordered by the statehouse and all the big financial groups. Wells Fargo, Citi, and Chase execs could look down out of their high rise buildings at the growing group of protesters.
First, they law made all the parking meters surrounding the park No Parking zones (I pushed a dolly with supplies four blocks by the end to deliver. Next because of the no camping ordinance, anyone that fell asleep over night was arrested. And that sort of pressure just kept increasing until the day that the feds helped every state crack down on the same day to dismantle Occupy nationwide.
So yes, they were worried. Very worried. I believe rightfully so if allowed to go on, so naturally it was NOT.

Nobody can make the ruling powers on Wall Street, and in the government VERY nervous.
They are very smart, have unlimited resources, and always are two steps ahead of you.
“(10-01) 15:04 PDT WASHINGTON – An elementary-school teacher who was dismissed after telling her class on the eve of the Iraq war that “I honk for peace” lost a U.S. Supreme Court appeal today.” quotehttp://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Honk-for-peace-schoolteacher-loses-firing-appeal-2499774.php
A kid, in the classroom asked the Teacher, “do you honk for peace”. She answered “YES” and she was “FIRED”.
Try to criticize and protest, and unless you are a paid provocateur, you may end HOMELESS.

Great post. The targeting of Wall Street and more broadly, the economic, financial and property systems was, I believe the correct target. Wall Street is not of course an entity accountable to the people. For that reason, the tactics used were not well suited for success. But, on the other hand, the usual tactics used to defuse political movements were also not available to the powers that be.

In a standard political protest there would have been a march on Washington. Large groups of protestors would congregate. Placards would be waved, speeches would be made. Protestors would be interviewed by the media. Finally arguably sympathetic politicians would appear to address the crowd. Assurances would be given that their voices had been heard. Promises would be made that things would change. The protestors would then declare victory. Everyone would go home and all would have been forgotten by the next news cycle. This approach was not useful for the Occupy protests.

The Occupy protests needed to expand to include a larger segment of the population. In New York City, it was made clear to protesters early on that attempts to disrupt economic activity would not be tolerated. Other tactics might have been more effective such as consumer boycotts, debt moratoriums or general strikes.

Occupy Wall Street movement in the beginning was great, and every city in America had a front. Of course the Jew run media was lambasting these protesters as quacks, and losers etc. It was growing and growing, and getting more sophisticated. Then came the wolves in sheeps clothing, the ….u guessed it ..Jews. Abbie Hoffman style they placed themselves at the top of the movement and sure enough went about sabotaging it.

And that they did. The Black-African-American segment of U.S. society is at a boiling point, with just a small flicker to set it off, big time. With the Ferguson , Missouri protests, and subsequent ones in other cities, along came Al Sharpton, a FBI undercover agent and Jesse James, an establishment agent of various sorts. It too was squashed. Obama sent the head of the Justice Dept, a black man named Eric Holder to pretend that the U.S. government is on the side of injustice. The police depts. of major cities in the U.S. were told to dampen down harassment, arrests, stop and frisk measures because an all out revolt of American blacks could very well bring down the house of cards. All it takes is a minor incident.

Right now, and has been for awhile now, U.S. police dept were and are still being trained by Isreali police and military advisors on how to deal effectively and ruthlessly civilian populations should things get out of hand.

Heck, every city now has war fighting weapons like armored fighting vehicles, Hummers, troops transport trucks all ready if things get super hot.

I think the main goal of the protests, to the extent that they are manipulated by the hegemonic complex, beyond increasing pressure on Iran (sanctions, UNSC resolutions, etc..) is to give Russia an excuse to throw Iran under the bus.

I highly doubt it. Iran is doing what India only talks about. It is becoming a huge part of the Eurasian Union. Russia needs Iran economically and militarily and China knows it can buy oil for its own currency. Nobody is throwing Iran under the bus.

I genuinely would like to know about the socialist policies that Ramiz writes about in Iran. Could he provide some examples.

From what I read, Iran is a capitalist country with some Islamic twists, and frankly, I find it hard to believe that the regime is socialist with so many rich and influential people running the country, including some former presidents.

So, please, provide us with examples of socialism in Iran with which we can make our own judgment. This is sincerely not rhetorical question

I actually read those stories and that is why I started to wonder the socialism in Iran as there is no other people claiming as such. In fact, just yesterday the communist party of Iran published a declaration about the protests and called the Iranian regime as “islamist capitalist”. Myself, as a socialist and also as a person who knows a thing or two about the recent Iranian history, would rather give at least benefit of doubt to Iranian communist party. So, my question remains, and would very much appreciate if Ramiz would give some examples that must be taken as a socialist policy

Let’s KISS ( ‘Keep It Simple and Straightforward’). The ‘redirection’ of the Kurds. Kurdistan as ‘Second Israel’ is a pet project of USrael and they would never give it up (Ditto for Ukraine, the third Israel).
“Israel and the United States have secretly signed a far-reaching joint memorandum of understanding providing for full cooperation to deal with Iran’s nuclear drive, its missile programs and its other threatening activities, an Israeli TV report said”.

“Kurdish-Iranian groups support protests for democracy in Iran. Kurds complain of ethnic, political and economic oppression”, by Seth J. Frantzman, January 1, 2018
@http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Kurdish-Iranian-groups-support-of-protests-for-democracy-in-Iran-521523
‘The Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) has called on Iranian people to stand together in a struggle for democracy in Iran. PJAK, which is often described as an off-shoot of the Kurdistan Workers party (PKK), released a statement Sunday, saying that the protests spreading in Rojhelat “have the potential to lead to great changes. They could lead to a democratic transformation for the whole of Iran….
The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), which has been struggling for Kurdish rights since its founding in 1945, fighting against both the Shah’s regime and the Islamic Republic after 1979, also released a statement calling on people to take part in the demonstrations. “We urge people to demonstrate peacefully and not use any violence except in cases you need to defend yourselves,” the party tweeted…
The Kurdish Komala party has also published a statement from its secretary- general, Abdullah Mohtadi, warning the international community that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “will do everything in its powers to suppress the Iran protests, despite the legitimate claims of Iran’s people to get rid of this dictatorship.”

“Iranian Nobel Laureate: Anti-gov’t protests can go beyond Green Movement”:
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A wave of anti-government protests that have taken place in dozens of Iranian cities for the past four days have the potential to go beyond the Green Movement that shook the pillars of the Islamic Republic for the first time in 2009, the renowned Iranian Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi said.
She said that the protest that began in the western city of Mashhad, but soon spread to more than two dozen cities across the country, is “the starting point of a great movement.”
@http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/311220172 (Rudaw is a Kurdish media network funded and supported by Rudaw Company).

It is worth mentioning also the:
“Neoconservative Delusions on Azerbaijan”, December 29, 2017, Eldar Mamedov
@https://lobelog.com/neoconservative-delusions-on-azerbaijan/
‘If there is one feature for which neoconservatives are well known, it is their reckless disregard for reality, no matter how many times and how badly their policies have backfired–especially in the Middle East.
This feature was on full display in Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) CEO Michael Makovsky’s piece of advice to the Trump administration on how to deal with Iran. The piece, dissected by Jim Lobe and Derek Davison, is full of praise for Ronald Reagan’s “resolve” in dealing with the Soviet Union–obligatory in the neoconservative canon–and repetitive references to Iran’s meddling in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. There is, however, another element which deserves more attention: Makovsky’s idea that the U.S. strategy to counter Iran should include Azerbaijan. This is actually not the first time he advocated for such an approach: already in January 2017 he urged the then-fresh Trump administration to integrate the Caspian nation in a regional effort, together with the Persian Gulf monarchies, to isolate Iran…
[But] Makovsky’s hope that Baku could galvanize irredentist passions among Iranian Azeris and weaken Iran from within is too far-fetched. This idea has been popular in anti-Iranian circles since the emergence of the independent Azerbaijani state after the break-up of the Soviet Union, but it never materialized, except on the marginal fringes of the Iranian Azerbaijani community. There is no reason to believe such a plan would fare any better now than it did 25 years ago, when a stridently pan-Turkist, anti-Iranian government was in power in Baku”. But the Neocons never learn.

In my country, there will be very little material like Ramin Mazaheri’s above article in our public print and electronic media. To get any decent discussion of matters such as this, we have to voluntarily circulate material using e-mail and Whatsapp lists, but there are certain practical limitations to this.

How I wish I could use this article! But it is just too long. Our newspapers are right about one thing: An opinion piece must be less than 750 words, or it will not be read properly. An article like the one above, which I make to be 2621 words, even if privately circulated and recommended, will not be read at all, and therefore it will not be discussed. It is a dead loss for us.

Ramin Mazaheri’s writing is so attractive and so sympathetic to the thinking of our people, although we are far away and on a different continent. I wish you all could consider how your material is packaged, and what an enormous difference the simple size of the package makes to the reach of such material.

You have no idea of my workload. Please, do not dismiss my experience out of hand. I am not going to sub-edit articles, and others will also not do so. That is your fantasy.

I will select enough lines to fill a smart-phone screen (plus-minus 84 words), and put the link in the form of a “Tiny URL”. But not if the article is 2600 words. I know my readers, and because I know them, long article will go on the virtual “spike”. That’s just a fact, and a general fact which people should take on board, pronto.

Brief and concise articles/reports have their advantages, certainly, but they do not reduce the mental work the readers have to invest. Rather the opposite because the reader has to grasp the nuances and context in each single statement within a concise report.

In general, I think it is worth reading an in-depth 3000-word report hundred times over 20 shallow 150-word news flashes repeating the same boiled-down summary that misses the background for brevity. Including the valuable comments here, I spend up to two hours per article (context: I am devouring books at 70 pages an hour).

Wow! what a triumph of writing in defense of Democracy. And what good advice for us would-be defenders of freedom against The New World Order. Happy Sylvester to the ancient nation of Iran: a country that has stood in the vanguard of civilization for 4000 years, on and off, as a bridge between Eastern and Western EurAsia.

Compelling read. Living in the West often gives gives you a narrow perspective because of the media bias, however it does not preempt critical thinking. I living in a very wealthy Scandinavian country, can often despair in the lack of political engagement. Even in internal matters, yes , even here the inequality is rising and especially the poorest are at the receiving end. The once famed Scandinavian solidarity has largely vanished, at least internally, though a large amount of refugees have found a place to stay.
Oluf Palme is no more, and his memory is fading fast.
But the plight to examplewise Iran, who has a democratically elected Government is discerning and disappointing, but Iran is hardly ever mentioned in the ordinary media. It is sad. And now when it is mentioned, the reports are inaccurate and untruthful, biased and in some cases outright lies.
Hopefully we will see the EU taking a stance, whatever their agenda, against US Imperialism (Oluf Palme again ) and further distance itself from this thoroughly oppressing, dehumanizing Nation, driven by unregulated greed and disregard for life, environment, human rights, the UN, everything good that has defined us as humans. EU may , to us living here, be our only bulwark against this monster.

The Jewish Mafia had a terrible year. The rabbis and doctors suggested ‘primal therapy’ – Stamp your feet as fast and hard as you can while screaming your lungs off. This sounded too unpractical and overtly esoteric to the simple-minded mafiosi. Why not use the rage and befuddlement for something more profitable? Like a twitter/ color revolution? Let’s say in Iran? Right after Christmas?

Very, very clever. And a clear indication that 2018 will be even worse for the Jewish Mafia than 2017.

In America ‘normal’ protests are met with rubber and sometimes real bullet, gas attacks, beaten to a bloody pulp and run over by used armored military vehicles. If you survive, you are put on trial for daring to stand up for your right to protest!!!

I am glad the Iranian Authorities have not been watching American TV for lessons on attacking protesters..

Around spring, 21st March…..It is called Norud…..It’s the time to make home cleaning…carpets and so on….

Mod-TO Note: It is called Nowruz and occurs on the 20th day of March. The house cleaning is done as a prelude to Nowruz in readiness for the New Year based upon the Solar Hejri Calendar (that adopted by Iran).

1) Cuba still has a state owned centrally planned economy. Of course, they have to rely on tourism income now and have increased
private self employment and hospitality jobs. But they have not allowed a return to capitalism as Vietnam and China

2) Venezuela is less socialist than western European social democratic states were in the 1960-1970s. Western media portray Venezuela as a very “radical communist” country which is collapsing because it supposedly implemented “socialist” policies. In reality, the economy is largely under private ownership and operates under capitalist principles. Of course the government nationalised some corporations here and there and increased public spending in social policies. The low oil prices and currency speculation caused the economy to fall.

I read on the website: benjaminfulford, of very important new technologies that Tehran University is testing. I know this has something to do with the completely new science and mathematics of Miles Mathis; that has demolished hundreds of years of poor, and suppressed, science.

After wading my through most of his proofs; seeing how, so many could be so wrong for so long, I found his short paper on Masonry a classic! Books from the site: milesmathis, have now been translated to Russian; if Iran and Russia are the first to use this new science, the “West” will “head South “, even faster than it now is.

May the Iranian protesters be guided by a sense of reality, national love, and a clear understanding of the West and its crocodile tears. Let them have the wisdom not to play into the hands of western imperialism. Yes, protest is good but it should be situated in the context of a clear understanding of the constraints imposed by western policies and the geopolitical realities in the mid east. One slip and a great civilization could end up like Syria or the tragic Ukraine.

Yet another anglo/zionist presstitute distraction from the crushing reality brewing in Syria. The Golan is next and then straight to Jerusalem and there is nothing that the western mercs can do.
The western MSM has been silent on the progress of the resistance in Syria – and certainly no mention of the formidable, well armed and now battle harden forces about to amass on the western boarder of Syria.
Syria, Hezbollah, Iran and Russia know that there is no turning back now and that only the complete crushing of the entity will secure the survival of these nations.
Whether Trump scraps the nuclear deal or not – regardless it was an international deal – will not change the course of the war in the ME. If the US pulls out it will only further isolate the zionists and expose their duplicity. No amount of colour revolutions or fake news will stop the crushing of the zionist vassals.

Yeah sure. But the point is since 1980’s Iran fertility rate have collapsed to very European level (1.7-1.8 children per woman). Make no mistakes people – there isn’t demographic problem in Iran. And surely not in 2030’s. This is the fact of Iran surprisingly many people don’t realize. They are seeing Iran as just another Niger.

Sometimes the mathematics falls down: on the Oct. the 5th of the year 2000, in Serbia – I was sure nobody would protest for the sake of NATO, who bombed us, and killed up to 3 thousands of people and soldiers.

But they protested, and gave a cover to a secret offices’ coup d’ etat. Half a million protesters in a 2-million city of Belgrade, armed with 40 thousands of long rifles .. we could just watch and cry.

@dulebg. Please tell me more. Your letter makes it seem like NATZO took over Belgrade by an armed coup with a really massive number of Maidan-type !protesters” or Syrian-type “rebels” after defeating Serbia militarily. So who rules Serbia now: patriots or NATZO Quislings? I ask only because myself personally I date the start of our presen New New-World-Order from rape of Serbia by NATZO under WC Clinton & TB Liar.

Allow me to answer. Serbia is ruled by EU/NATO quislings. There was a coup on 5th of october 2000. If i remember correctly no one died. But bulldozer was used to storm the Parliament building which was set ablaze afterwards. Some say it was used to burn the ballots from the elections. There was a curious incident during that time. A special anti terrorist unit was deployed,without arms, and they blocked the traffic in a small area. There are lots of speculations why they did it. Their commander is accused and sentenced for murder of our new (quisling) PM that came after the coup.

Everything from that time is still not known. Lots of rats just switched coats, payed their new coats handsomely and are being protected. My take is that same thing is happening as we speak. They are trying to skip boat again. But are having difficulty finding a right arse to crawl into. They sense the pending collapse of the Empire and would like to be on the winning side. If only they could find the right arse. Oh what they did to deserve such a fate, when crawling into someones behind is not enough now, where the world is going to these days?

Several types of people participated. Aside from agents and handlers there were two groups that bear mention.

First was low level underground foot soldier most commonly found in soccer fan clubs. Even today they are allowed to operate. Consider them as recruiting grounds for future delinquents. For all their patriotic fervor, although misplaced and misguided, they are not bright enough to understand that they are helping their own enemies. They provided muscle. Remember when Kosovo proclaimed independence, we had massive demonstrations on the streets? Remember that US embassy was attacked and a molotov cocktail was thrown at the embassy building? Same people really. In collusion with some powerful people in the police apparatus. Powerful enough to influence placement of police officers at the moment and not to be responsible after the fact for poor judgment. I say openly, it was collusion. And that is just a drop in the sea of reasons why they are quislings. Note here that those opposing them are not necessarily patriots either.

Second group is more numerable. They are consisting of those who lost hope and/or who bought new EU mantra. Use of reason is restricted among them, belief is their guiding beacon. Misplaced belief i must add. They provided bulk of the mass and cover for all others included.

Ramin is mentioning sanctions. Those who had not lived under them cannot fathom how cruel they are. They attack a fabric of society on so many levels that even a few decades later we are facing consequences. That breakdown is then exploited. Inflation, shortages (even of basic necessities), corruption, loss of hope (although this seem minor it is a single largest factor in my opinion),…
Sanctions weaken a country immensely and cripple it for the future.

@Dule, i don’t remember those 40.000 long rifles, can you refresh my memory? I was also sure that no one would protest for the sake of NATO, as you were, but we were proven wrong. Although i see it more as a headless mass that was guided. We had lots of mass gatherings for a while before that,courtesy of foreign intelligence agencies primarily but let us not forget our own local helpers at various levels. Now, things feel differently. During the last years demonstrations in Belgrade police and military unions stepped forward and said that under no circumstances will they shoot at the citizens and cautioned participants against provocateurs. It goes to show that people from those branches are thinking few steps ahead how to prevent bloodshed when the inevitable change of government come.

If you are willing to ask for more info i would be glad to help you. I offer you a voice over internet protocol of your choice or some other means of communication.

“One of the protesters participating in anti-government unrest in Iran has opened fire against police officers in the country’s Najafabad city, leaving one person killed and wounding three others, local media reported on Monday.

The protester used a sporting gun during the incident, the IRIB TV channel reported on its Telegram messenger account.

One police officer has been shot dead during protests in Iran’s Najafabad and three have been wounded, a police spokesman says https://t.co/EEl0LpUGpM pic.twitter.com/aDdPLwSpw4
— TRT World (@trtworld) 1 января 2018 г.”

A guy with a sporting rifle killed one and wounded 3 cops? Who trained the bugger? This is the same govno the zionazis stage at the beginning of all of their “color revolution” ops. There have been a dozen deaths so far connected to “green color rev. Mk. II” and one can bet israeloamerican spec ops faggots are the trigger pullers.

I realize that Twitter is not exactly a reliable source, but I just readed a retweet of an experienced reporter in the Middle East, that he recognized parts of the most violent aired footage.

This footage was not from Iran, but from riots in Bahrein some years ago.

I don’t know which one.

Wouldn’t surprise me to be a trick of press agency Reuters, they have done this more in the past.
(once they published a sad photograph of dead children in Syria, to be blamed on Assad. The actual photographer has sued them, while the picture was taken in 2003 in Fallujah, Iraq, after an American bombing).

I lived and worked in Iran for the twenty four months leading up to the departure of the Shahenshah, (“The King of Kings”); and I can vouch for everything that the author says here. This period was when the “real” revolution was taking place; when the Iranian people, organized and led by their religious leaders, were divesting them selves of twenty five years of US perpetrated “control”, administered by the Shah’s Elite Guard and the CIA-trained SAVAK (secret police). All of my (oil Industry) trainees were young men in their early 20s to early 30s; and because I was an “older” instructor and a Canadian, they confided in me. (Not so today, I would expect, since my country is now a full fledged American satrapy). In any case, I am here ta tell ya that the Iranian Revolution was won simply with periodic general strikes, totally shutting down the country AND the sympathy and “inertia” of the regular army. I never saw evidence of gunshot injury or death. HOWEVER, when I got home and witnessed what the Canadian media was feeding the public, I STOPPED paying any attention at all to their off-shore “news”, (Canned US stuff), and went to the internet when it became available. I recommend this to everyone. There is a vast amount of information out there. Keep soaking it up and putting it through your logic/common sense “filters” and ……… you’ll be surprised how dumbed down you’ve been.

Thank you so much for this report of reality. All the rest is really fake news from the West. Thank you Saker for having Rahim on your site.
Happy New Year to all. May God bless you and your families and to all the Saker community.

All it takes is another incident like what happened in Ferguson , Missouri, U.S.A for the black masses of the U.S. to go into a spiraling riot mode . Given enough , they will prove uncontrollable and lay waste to the hypocrites.

Has anyone ever thought why is it that there is no form of serious opposition in the U.S to the massive corruption, worthless government etc. Its because American society has deliberately been medicated , through legal and illegal drugs and thus rendered pliant and comatose. But all this social engineering is showing signs of backfire.

With 5% of the worlds population, and 25% of the worlds incarcerated prisoners, massive tent cities in every city for the homeless, opiate, heroin, methamphetamine, Xanax epidemics , 50 million living on government food subsidies, college grads having to move back home because of crippling loans. Every middle class family one paycheck, or serious illness away from disaster.

So, right beneath the façade of American democracy and greatness things are simmering.

Iranian Islamic socialism is a work in progress, and these new developments will come out in Irans favor. Things will get done to the Iranian peoples benefit.

Iran, is the last real civilizational model for the Muslim world, and this coming from a Sunni Arab.

I lose no sleep, nor do I worry about the situation in Iran.

The irony is that in the coming months, when the U.S. Congress votes to undo the Nuclear deal, Irans economic woes will instantly be re-directed back to its enemy , the U.S. , whom is to blame, not the democratic government. Perhaps there is a blessing in disguise in all this.

Go Iran, may God continue to make you strong, united and vigilant.

Also, Iran plays a central role in China’s One-Road, One-Belt, so Iran is not going to fall for these tired acts of sabotage.

I was marching in the protests that followed the Ferguson police murder.

What I found very interesting was that it was not ‘a black thing’. It was a community thing. I wasn’t in Missouri, but in my city the protests against that awful police murder included chanting the names of those killed murdered locally by the police. And here, that meant hispanic names and the name of a young gay person killed by the police.

And I think that’s what scared the “respect my authoritie” crowd so much. That it had the initial potential to bring together all of the portions of society that suffer under the repression, bullying, intimidatation and violence of the police, who act mainly to defend the wealthy and corporations. The crowd in those early protests as news of the police murder swept the country was more of a coming together of everyone who is regularly attacked by the police.

To my eye, the focus on making this ‘a black thing’ was an op by the State to defuse that crisis. The one thing they did not want is diverse groups coming together to challenge the police violence that protects and defends an increasingly unequal society. They made it ‘a black thing’, and Soros and the Democrats backed the “Black Lives Matter” movement to channel the opposition into that direction, where it could be limited and contained.

One quickly saw this become a movement where the ‘black’ organizers were quickly attacking the non-black participants in the protests. We saw that a slogan such as ‘all lives matter’ was quickly attacked and denounced as being racist. We saw the claims that only blacks have the right to be upset at the police because blacks to indeed bear a heavier burden on police violence.

Overall, what we saw was using the racist angle to diffuse what could have been a major crisis for the state, and to break up any prospects of a united front organizing against the ever growing police violence in service of an ever more unequal and anti-democracy state.

The colour of the “rent a riot” for a few dollars is like something out of hollyweird. It is so “stars and strips/Star of david coloured”. Even a non political person could not miss it? Shame the CIA/Mossad continue to copy and paste in their quest to take everything for the 1% and leave nothing for us the majority. Good luck with your copy and pasting ideas. In this age of 4g phones and cameras galore; you cannot get away what you did in 1953 for OIL. Get lost Stars and stripes and Star of david hyenas.

Is there any point in highlighting that the “Death to Khamenei” chants originated among hard line conservatives who were dismayed when a change in Iran’s laws essentially decriminalized a woman’s choice regarding ‘improper veiling’. Instead of gaol (jail) these women now take education classes on why certain clothing is considered important by the religious authorities. Sounds very similar to the decriminalization of certain drugs, where instead of gaol and criminal convictions education on the dangers of drugs to an individual and society is undertaken by ‘offenders’ instead.

Some of the more fundamental Islamic groups are unhappy with this ‘liberalization’ of a religious tenet. Article on it can be found on at:

More of the demonization of non-Western states that don’t follow the ‘party-line on neoliberal economics or seek to challenge the narrative of a hegemon or unipolar world. Now we wait and see what illegal interference in another nation state will be propagated under some false-flag or funding for groups desperate to seize power and offer a new more Western/neoliberal friendly Iranian government.

“The regime also showed gaining confidence in its ability to weather the upheaval by the way it was handled, DEBKAfile reports. No shooting or violent crackdowns. Instead, after three days, the demonstrators were still free to reach their rallying-points in the town centers, but when they arrived, they met thousands of regime loyalists and police reinforcements waiting quietly there and were often outnumbered.”

That matches the predictions of Ramin quite nice.

I also sensed from quite some common people around me (W-Europe) restraint, mainly fueled by chaotic footages, of which quite some were ´suspicious´, and the hysterical reactions from the USA.

First, thanks to Mr. Mazaheri for interupting his vacation. As he so accurately opens his piece, sanity in English language reporting on Iran in general and on these protests in particular is hard to find. Thus, his efforts are greatly appreciated.

The socialists at wsws.org have returned from their vacations to publish an interesting piece of their own on these protests. Shared here since google is restricting the search traffic to a useful website that doesn’t follow google’s pro-corporate political views.

“The current wave of protests erupted after months of mounting worker unrest and popular demonstrations, including over job cuts, the failure to pay back wages, and the authorities’ indifference to the millions whose savings have been wiped out by the collapse of numerous unregulated financial institutions.

Last September, for example, in Arak, workers at two industrial plants that were privatized in the 2000s clashed with police for two days after the security forces intervened to break up their protests against their employers’ failure to pay back wages and medical insurance premiums. According to an Agence France-Presse report, “Minor protests have been bubbling away in the weeks leading up to the current unrest,” with “hundreds of oil workers and truck drivers protesting the late payment of wages; tractor makers in Tabriz against their factory’s closure; and Tehran tire workers at bonuses being delayed.””

…

“In the days immediately preceding the current wave of protests, an intense and widespread discussion raged on social media about mounting social inequality. The trigger for this outpouring of anger was the tabling of the government’s latest austerity budget. It will boost gasoline prices by as much as 50 percent, while further slashing the small cash payments given Iranians in lieu of the price subsidies for energy, basic foodstuffs and essential services that were phased out between 2010 and 2014.”

@Iran is far, far richer than Ukraine, after all
—
I do not agree. Think of the Ukrainian coal, fields, rivers & lakes, transportation routes, cosmic&aerospace producers, great industry. It is, maybe ruinned and destroyed, but it doesn’t change the fact.

“PARIS (AP) — Can a democratic country outlaw fake news?
France is about to find out, after President Emmanuel Macron ordered a law to quash false information disseminated around electoral campaigns.
Criticism is pouring in from media advocates, tech experts — and Kremlin-backed broadcaster RT. They say the law smacks of authoritarianism, would be impossible to enforce and is sure to backfire.
Macron’s stance “could be just the beginning of actually censoring freedom of speech. We believe it is a very dangerous situation,” Xenia Fedorova, director of RT’s newly launched French-language channel, told The Associated Press.
Yet in a world where a falsehood can reach billions instantaneously and political manipulation is increasingly sophisticated, Macron argues something must be done.
A congressional report by U.S. Democrats released Thursday detailed apparent Russian efforts to undermine politics in 19 European countries since 2016, using cyberattacks, disinformation, clandestine social media operations, financing of fringe political groups and, in extreme cases, assassination attempts. Macron’s own campaign suffered a big hacking attack last year, though the government later said it found no proof of Russian involvement.
Propaganda and disinformation aren’t new or unique to Russia. Author and technology historian Edward Tenner argues that fake news is as old as George Washington’s cherry tree — an enduring but untrue legend about the first U.S. president.
While democracies usually rely on defamation and libel laws to combat false publications, Macron wants more.” …

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